UPDATE: Sad news today that Jessica Biel will no longer be joining THE WOLVERINE as Viper. According to Collider, negotiations broke down between Biel and Fox. Production starts in a month and if Viper is going to be a significant villain in the movie, you can be sure we will be hearing more soon!
Alright boys, THE WOLVERINE has added a super-hottie to the cast! Jessica Biel will be appearing the the new X-MEN spin-off as Victoria/Viper.
Now, I bet you are asking yourselves this question: who the f**k is Viper? That is the interesting part.
Viper was three different characters in Marvel Comics history. None of them were named Victoria, so this Viper could be a new version of one of these existing comic characters or rebranding of them. Viper was originally a Captain America villain had run ins with both The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. Viper also went by the name Madame Hydra. Her connection to the X-Men and Wolverine came when she tried to murder Logan’s fiance Mariko Yashida. She then eventually blackmailed Wolverine into marrying her so that she could cement her control of a criminal organization. She and Wolverine did divorce eventually.
THE WOLVERINE has long been developed as focusing on Logan’s adventures in Japan. The Viper/Mariko/Wolverine love triangle may work for the movie. It would definitely be interesting to see Biel play a villain after her big action role in TOTAL RECALL.
What intrigues me most about the character are her connections to both The Avengers and Captain America. Could this be a play by Marvel to try and link the Fox and Disney cinematic universes? One could only hope!